Former Canadian Ambassador to the United States Derek Burney called Canada an “underdeveloped country” and said Canada needs to make a “big commitment” to defense spending if it wants to be taken seriously on other issues with the United States. Ta.
“If you’re going to get any traction in Washington for anything, you’ve got to do some major work on defense capabilities,” Bernie told CTV’s Question Period host Vassie Kapelos in an interview on Sunday. spoke. “I mean, it’s really tragic.”
Canada’s defense spending targets are facing increased scrutiny following Donald Trump’s re-election as U.S. president. President Trump has previously criticized alliance members for spending too little, and earlier this year warned that if Trump regained the White House, the U.S. would not be able to meet the $2 per capita spending goal of NATO. He even suggested that he would not protect his allies. Defense spending is cents of GDP.
The Canadian government pledged in July to meet that goal by 2032, following years of pressure from allies including the United States.
But Mr. Bernie, who also served as chief of staff to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and played a key role in the original NAFTA negotiations, said Americans were not willing to “wait eight years” and that Canada wanted to spend more on defense “sooner.” “There is a need to increase this,” he said.
“I can’t say it too negatively, but we’re behind, we’re irrelevant, we’re not making any contributions that would be considered meaningful anywhere in the world today,” he added. “It’s a very sad commentary on a once proud military.”
Canada will spend 1.37% of its GDP on defense in 2024, according to the latest NATO figures. The Department of Defense predicts this number will increase in the coming years, rising to 1.76% by 2030.
Kelly Craft, who served as U.S. ambassador to Canada from 2017 to 2019 during President Trump’s first term, also said in an interview with Question Period earlier this month that “Canada can do better” when it comes to defense spending. said. Craft said the issue is particularly relevant in the Arctic and with regard to collective deterrence against adversaries such as Russia and China.
When Kapelos asked if he agreed with that assessment, Bernie said: “Absolutely.”
“I couldn’t agree more with that ambassador,” he said.
“In our own interests, we have to make the Arctic a higher priority, and I don’t think we should wait for an endless and expensive defense procurement process,” Bernie said.
If Canada wants to reach the 2% target by 2032, it will need to nearly double its defense spending to $81.9 billion a year, according to a recent report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
Mr. Bernie told Mr. Kapelos that the federal government should find efficiencies elsewhere as a way to increase defense spending.
“There needs to be a very clear effort to reduce costs within the base government in Ottawa,” Barney said. “It has to happen and the Americans will be leading the way on this, so we should take our cues from them.”
In the interview, Bernie spoke about President Trump’s threat to impose a 10% tariff on all imports, as well as concerns about Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Daniel Smith’s plans for a trilateral free trade agreement with the United States and Canada. He also mentioned calls for Mexico to be expelled from trade agreements.
Watch the full interview with Derek Birney on CTV Question Period, airing Sundays at 11pm/8pm on CTV and CTV News Channel.
With files from CTV’s Spencer Van Dyke
